The Week That Was

It’s been a scenic week out on the road with plenty of photo moments. I’m currently training 5 days in 7. Monday and Tuesday’s workouts are on the trainer indoors and targeting very specific power zones and cadences for about an hour. Wednesday sees a longer 2-3hr ride on the road, again targeting particular power levels etc. Thursday is then a recovery day. Friday calls for a more intense 1:30hr road ride. Saturday is my long ride day with 4-5hrs on the bike where I am still working on certain zones and cadences but I view it as the icing on the cake at the end of the week where I get to simply enjoy being out on the bike.

Sunday is then reserved for family and catching up with other stuff.

The always scenic Gweek

I made the decision early on to enlist the help of a professional trainer to help get me cycle fit efficiently. I find having someone independent monitoring my progress also helps with the discipline needed to follow through with training week after week and avoiding the temptation to skip rides due to other priorities or general laziness. I felt that having expert guidance and a defined structure to work to was something that would really make a difference for me and add interest. I’m happy to say that working with Martin Burrows from KOM Coaching has been excellent; he lives and breathes cycle coaching, and has more knowledge than I could ever gain by reading articles online or following generic training programs.

The sun fighting through

Last Saturday’s ride was probably the best of the year so far, with spells of warm sunshine, light winds and quiet dry roads. Since October I’ve been predominantly riding to the west of Cornwall, around the Lizard Peninsular or across to Portreath, Hayle and Land’s End. I doubt I’ll ever tire of the spectacular scenery around those parts but as the months have past many of the roads have become quite familiar. I fancied something different for my Saturday ride this week and plotted a route out to the Roseland Peninsular taking in St. Mawes and Pendower. A day that was forecast to be drab and overcast turned out remarkably sunny.

Waiting for the ferry. Red bike, red railings…

I could have happily spent hours strolling around St. Mawes with my camera but as this is training rather than touring I mostly limit my photo moments to brief food, drink and stretch stops. I had to have a pause by the castle.

You can view my route, lots of hills, lots of wonderful Cornish scenery and mostly quiet roads. I think I’ll keep exploring eastwards and the Roseland Peninsular in the coming weeks; the landscape is softer, greener and feels more spring-like and there’s still plenty of hills.